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have an email address or if you wish to renew on behalf of someone else,
payments can be taken over the telephone by calling: 02392 651519, menu option
2.

Renewal by
Standing Order or Direct Debit:

If you pay by Standing Order or Direct Debit a new card will be
sent to you on receipt of your subscription money. Remember if you are renewing
your membership via Direct Debit, please cancel your Standing Order.

Q. Do I need
to renew if I am a Life or Honorary member?

If you are a Life or Honorary member you will automatically be
renewed and a membership card will be sent to you each year.

Q. Where do I
renew online?

You can renew online by logging into your member’s account by
clicking here: royalmarinesassociation.org.uk/members/account/membership/. You will
only be able to log-in if we have your email address on our system. If you
haven’t supplied your email address to us or if you have changed your email
address, please call: 02392 651519 menu option 3 and we will update your record.

Q. What do I
do if I have forgotten my password?

If you have forgotten your password when you get to above log-in
screen, remember that your password is case sensitive. If you are still
unsuccessful, then please click the ‘forgotten password’ link which is just
underneath. Then enter your email address and click ‘request password reset’
and you’ll receive a password reset email with a unique link. After that set
your preferred password (which much be at least 8 characters long). Once set,
you should be able to log-in and renew your membership.

Q. Can I renew
at any time?

Yes, but your renewal date is based on your renewal month not from
the date you renew.

You will be sent an email with a
unique link to reset your password (please note the link is only active for 12
hours). If the link expires, please repeat the above steps.

Once you've set a password, this is
your online account now "activated". This means you can log into the
members area and also 'login' when prompted for things like booking event
tickets.

Whenever you log in as a member,
your ‘username' will always be your email address; your password will be
whatever you chose as part of the above process..

Josh Pelland's Story

In June 2016, former Royal Marine
Josh Pelland was severely injured during a climbing accident in his hometown of
Calgary, Canada. The accident left Josh paralysed from the chest down. Luckily,
Josh had a strong support network around him, and was referred to us by his
Royal Marine friends. Despite Josh being located in a remote area of Canada, we
were able to liaise with the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League to request a
visit from a Royal Canadian Legion caseworker. The purpose of the caseworker visit
was to complete a full assessment of needs, enabling us to consider the best
way to assist. As a result of the visit, various items were identified that
Josh needed, but would not be able to self-fund. Josh needed a specialist
wheelchair, and chairlift to allow safe entry/exit to the family home. Substantial
building modifications, to suit his needs, had already been completed by his
parents.

The Royal Marines Charity grant for
£2000 contributed towards the purchase of a specialist wheelchair, which
ensured that this young former Royal Marine remains as independent as possible.

A thank you letter from Josh demonstrates
how our assistance has had a positive impact on his life;

“The RMA has helped get me settled back into my house and
back into life by helping me out financially, for this I am extremely grateful”.

Josh then states how he “can
really only attribute my ability to crack on from everything I've witnessed and
learned from my time in the corps and all the inspirational stories and
challenges others before me have overcome”.

Clearly demonstrating the Royal Marine Corps ethos/values, Josh has
drawn positives from this challenge, and has now set his sights on competing in
various physical competitions, including The
Calgary Half Ironman!

We wish Josh and his family the
best of luck with his continued recovery.

RMA/RMC Merger
Road Show.Feed Back from
John Peel, Chair – North Devon RMA

1. What is good about the RMA currently?

The Globe and Laurel/Corps Brand

Camaraderie and Staying in Touch

Support

Living the Dream

2. What is perceived as not so good about the current RMA?

Recruitment – although growing –
possibly not in the right age range.

Disenchantment of the grass roots
of the RMA about modernisation.

The merger appears to be
commonsense and definitely the way forward, creating a single communication
group, better resource at no extra cost and a common goal. As usual there were many who wanted to
hijack what the meeting was meant to be about. There are many in the current ranks of the RMA who are
allergic to change. Why? They maybe can’t keep up with the
modernisation programme. They may
like their way of doing things in their branch and see the future as
threatening to their nice little arrangements and don’t want to be accountable.
Who knows? I feel those who are
objecting and being disruptive may have something to hide as there is nothing
of what was stated in Exeter is of a threat to anyone.

3. Personal thoughts on things that could be worked on following the
merger.

Recruitment: This is a real issue and when the
merger is completed this should be addressed. Even though statistic indicates a reducing average age of
membership this I think is a false perception. What should be considered is the average age of those on the
coalface – the branches, including the new virtual branches, who are the face
of the RMA in public and are, by having a name, accountable to Central
Office. The Central Office Roll
are not. Even though Mark and
Richie do an excellent job at CTC – I agree with those who felt that a bunch of
recruits in a lecture theatre will not absorb details and sign anything. The real test is what happens further
down the line when they leave.
This is when they need to be captured (in the nicest possible way). Getting regular Road Shows in the Units
to include the local branch chairman is a means of re-engaging with those about
to leave. I did a presentation to
the Seniors Mess at Chivenor and they admitted being oblivious to what went on
in the RMA.

Support. Although this has and is developing
I have a couple of alarming stories.
I introduced myself to the RNRM Welfare Team at a recent Families Day at
CHF in Yeovil and they seemed to be uncertain about their link to the RMA. When I mentioned what we are trying to
do in North Devon they genuinely were surprised. So much so they want me to attend a Hub meeting and give an
overview of what we do on the ground and how linking the local branch with the
unit RMRN team would help all. I
had a conversation recently (while at Sainsbury’s) where an RM was medically
discharged felt let down by the Corps as they were supported for only 3 months
following discharge and then seemed to be left to their own devices. I didn’t get the full story so am
unaware of the circumstances – but the wife of this former RM said they were
totally disillusioned by the Corps and the after leaving support. Referring back to the chat I had at
Yeovil with the RNRM Support Team it’ not difficult to believe there is a lack
of joined up thinking particularly with the branch on the ground and local RNRM
team. This is an area where a
process of connecting the local branch support team with the Unit Welfare Team
would help get over this problem (something we are trying to achieve in North
Devon.)

Fund Raising
. This seemed to ring alarm bells
at the meeting. I have to say I
was disappointed but not surprised by the person who wanted to know if by
merging there would be an expectation to fund raise and would they be allowed
to continue fund raising for the branch and if they couldn’t how would they be
able to fun d the branch. I was
even more surprised by message by the presenters that nothing would
change. I have for a long time
believed that branches would wear RM related attire – berets, medals Corps
badge etc and fund raise for themselves.
This should be stamped out and the message from the presenters on the
night wasn’t clear. It has to be
said that anyone donating whether an RMA or RMC charity number is visible or
not is donating for the good of those we support. That donation should not pay for the branch to have a
social. Under no circumstances
should anyone in a branch be allowed to wear Corps clothing and fund raise for
anyone but the Corps Charities.
The question is how can this be monitored. I also don’t believe a branch with 4-6 members can’t do at
least a few hours bucket collecting.
It amazed me that 4 members of my branch and I raised over £800 in 4
hours on another branches patch during the Global Challenge when they couldn’t
support it. I don’t agree that
lack of manpower is an excuse. 2
of us have stood outside a Supermarket and raised hundreds of pounds in the
back water of Ilfracombe. So all
in all I think there should be a clear directive after the merger – no RM
attire unless fun d raising for RM Charities and branch incomes should be
monitored against their social activities. If a branch gets caught out it could be damaging for the
entire RMA/RMC.

Fund Raising Events. Following the merger
there need to be an understanding of geographical areas and fund raising
events. Put simply – North Devon
raise £15-18,000 per year for Corps related charities. We are very careful not to over cook
things. Had the Global Challenge
arrived on our doorstep the week before Sainsbury’s we would have had problems
from the public who support our annual Sainsbury’s Challenge which this year
raised £6225 for the RMC. Equally
we do a round of fund raising at Christmas across 4 towns in North Devon. Should someone come up with an idea
involving the Corps which happens to arrive in North Devon at that time the
public would be a little annoyed.
The damage to future fund raising in the area and the good reputation of
Royal in North Devon could be damaged.
Better communication and co-ordination when a fund raising idea is
hatched.

Marketing. It would help branches, certainly North
Devon, if we were issued with better marketing tools, professional posters
which give clear messages why we are out there. We found at Sainsbury’s, which has raised over £65k since we
started harder this year. Although
there was a considerable down turn in footfall I believe the military being out
of the limelight affected donations.
What the public need to know is that we still have over £2.5 million in
commitments annual as a charity and will do for ever. When I have a widow over a branch member leaving funeral
donations to H4H or someone coming up to us in public saying who are you
collecting for H4H it indicates that H4H got and still gets it’s marketing
message out there.

In Summary.

Things to work on going forward
post merger:

Better capture in recruitment –
getting the right message across at the right time (which is not at recruitment
stage).

Think of how to use the Old and
Bold and those in the coal face branches who are the public image of the Corps
– not the Central Office Role -

Better joined up support from
serving to retired particularly between the RNRM Welfare Teams and RMA Branches
not just Central Office.

The right message to branches about
fund raising that it is illegal to look like a serving or former RM and keep
the money in the branch.

When someone in Brigade or Central
Office comes up with a fund raising idea – consider the impact on branches –
particularly rural – who may have an annual strategy in place – like North
Devon – and maybe hold these events in big cities where there is a huge
footfall. Talk to the branches.

Help branches get the right market
strategy and message out there and give them the material and tools to
accomplish this. It will save my
printer ink!!!

Draft Minutes of Trustees Mtg April 2017

THE ROYAL MARINES ASSOCIATION

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF A TRUSTEES’ MEETING HELD IN THE MEDAL
ROOM, THE ROYAL MARINES MUSEUM

1. The
Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and reminded everyone of the very full
agenda and the resultant need to keep to the point in discussions. He noted the apologies received, as
recorded above. He noted the presence at the table of Mr Lou Sartorel, new
Trustee for the Southern region, replacing Mr Brien [RB1] Briars, and Mr Simon Beet, who would replace Mr Terry Galsworthy
when he stood done as a Trustee in the summer. The Chairman observed with
gratitude that TG had been a Trustee since 2004, and asked both new Trustees to
introduce themselves. He then drew attention to the presence of Hugh Player,
and suggested that, for Mr Player’s convenience, his presentation at Item 3 of
the Agenda should be brought forward.

Item 3. Brief on Greenwich Hospital.

2. Mr
Hugh Player presented a comprehensive and fascinating brief about Greenwich Hospital,
one of the oldest charities in Great Britain and a major donor of grants to
other Naval Service charities. He
distributed a booklet about the Hospital’s work containing the key facts of his
brief. CW holds spare copies in RMA Central Office. The Chairman thanked Mr Player for his time and for a
fascinating and illuminating brief.

Item 6-1. Central Office Staff Updates –
Operations Manager.

3. The
Chairman brought forward the Central Office Staff Brief of Mr R Puttock to
allow him to travel to London to meet an important early afternoon
appointment. The central points of
RP’s brief are at Annex A. RP emphasised
the following requests, specifically to regional Trustees:

a. Encourage members to attend the
Graspan Parade on 14 May – the more attendees, the

more cost effective the parade would be, especially in the context
of the charges to the RMA for road closures, Royal Parks support etc. He also
stated that if the event wasn’t supported we may lose it.

b. The National
Memorial Arboretum is expensive; the more members attending the parade (11 Jun
17), the better value for money it would become; he therefore urged Regional
Trustees to encourage their members’ presence at this event.

c. Members from
across the country should be encouraged to support the Corps Family Weekend at
CTCRM (16 Sep 17). It will be an
excellent and very enjoyable event, but as this would be the first version of
it, it would probably not be perfect.
He asked that members encourage attendance at the event with the right
attitude, thereby helping to develop the weekend into the principal event in
the RMA’s calendar. CE emphasised RP’s point by explaining that DCGRM and CRSM
are both personally engaged with the planning for the weekend, and see it as
being symbolic of knitting the whole Corps family together.

4. RP then
raised the question of the entitlement to the wearing of regimental attire and
asked that a section setting out guidance about this subject be written for the
Branch Secretaries’ handbook. KR suggested initiating a section of FAQs about
this and other advice in Homeport and on the website, signposting members to
the website by an announcement on Central Office’s answerphone greeting. CW undertook to write the section,
develop the FAQs and investigate the signposting message.

ACTION: CW

5. CE
drew Trustees’ attention to the unwelcome subject of several members’ rudeness
to the Central Office staff team, particularly to Tamsin, who tended to be first
point of contact (recently evident when members ring having experienced difficulties
with the website). To general
agreement, he stated that such behaviour is unacceptable. KR suggested that the
Central Office telephone greeting could contain the warning that conversations
may be recorded for training purpose.

ACTION: CW

6. KR wished to record her thanks to RP for all that he does
for the RMA, stating the RepNet is invaluable and his hard work for the
Association is exemplary. This sentiment was echoed by the Chairman, who added
that RP and the whole Central Office team have a huge number of fans across the
Association.

Item 2a. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Matters
Arising.

7. The following
points were raised:

a. Page 2,
sub-para 2c. RE offered an update
about Eastern Region MSSC (Sea Cadet) meeting, in which it had become clear
that RM Cadet Company Commanders had not carried out the requested action to
pass RMA membership application forms down their chains of command. After
general discussion, including LS asking what RMA membership offered to RM Cadets,
and CE explaining the existence and role of the RM Cadet Council, it was agreed
that a working group of CW, LS, PD, RE and SB (all of whom have close links
with RM Cadets) should follow up the question of RMA membership for RM Cadets
with the aim of generating momentum.

ACTION: CW to coord

b. Page 3, paragraph
6 (Mindworks Update). GS wished it to be noted that throughout the association
with Mindworks Marketing Ltd, he expressed concern about the total expenditure and
indeed costs to date.

c. Page 4, sub para
7a(i). GS stated his concern
that the Financial SOPs referred to in the subject sub-paragraph had not been
started yet. The Chairman directed
that these concerns should be noted.

ACTION: CW.

d. Page 6, para
11. GS asked who was on the
Trustees Working and Steering group for convergence. The Chairman explained
that it was himself, BRR and PD.

8. On
conclusion of the discussion, the Minutes of the last meeting were accepted as
true record of events.

Proposed: Mr G Salvetti

Seconded:
Mr Paul Deacon

Carried
unanimously

Item 6-2. Central Office Staff Updates –
Operations Manager.

9. Mrs Wendy
Sheen presented the next Central Office Staff briefing, focusing on welfare
support. The facts from her briefing are attached at Annex B. She added the following points:

a. Welfare cases are increasing
year-on-year.

b. The demand
for psychological treatment has risen significantly; RMA can now enrol a
patient for treatment within 2 weeks of initial contact.

c. The ability to
apply for welfare support through the website is a very strong tool, proving
popular with younger people but is being used across the age range.

d. A proactive Central
Office team (albeit only 3 people) in this role was proving invaluable.

10. KR welcomed
WS’s statement that RMA seeks grant money from Greenwich Hospital, and has a
strong working relation with the RN Benevolent Trust. She added that she would
be happy to provide a quick route to Greenwich Hospital if required. The Chairman thanked WS, and her
colleague, John Reed, for all that they are doing for the RMA’s beneficiaries
and for the Association.

11. Ms Renee
Davies presented the final Central Office staff briefing, describing her work
as Finance Manager. She provided
the following observations:

a. She has been the
RMA Central Office accountant for 10 years, and every year seems to become
busier. However, the first half of 2017 has been the busiest ever, caused by:

Incorporation: re-registering new company with HMRC, opening
new bank account, changing the RMA’s details with all its suppliers.

Audit in Jan/Feb.

Assisting Branch Treasurers with their financial returns.

Preparing for launch of Direct Debit subscription payment
system in Feb.

Managing Gift-Aid opt-in by members for RMA Ltd.

Since Mar, working on the Due Diligence questions for merger
with TRMC from Kingston Smith

b. She asked that
Regional Trustees urge their members to opt-in for Gift Aid to RMA Ltd.

c. She reported to the
Board that several members have been extremely rude to Central Office Staff
over the phone when ringing to discuss difficulties with the website. All agreed that this is completely
unacceptable behaviour and that those who behave in this manner should be
sanctioned.

12. The
Chairman expressed his admiration for RD’s dedication, commitment and hard work
and offered, on behalf of the Board, his sincerest thanks for all she does.

13. Discussion
followed that focused on RD’s solo status in the office and finding support for
her, notwithstanding the challenge that she pointed out, of training a stand-in
should one be needed. The Chairman
directed the Chief Executive to find suitable support for RD, and invited her
not to afraid to ask for support if she felt herself to be overwhelmed.

14. The Chairman
opened this item by describing merger planning to date and summarising the last
3 Merger Steering Group (MSG) meetings. He explained that the vehicle under
which merger will be achieved will in fact be an acquisition (of RMA by TRMC),
which meant that there would be no need to set up a new charity number. He
added the following points:

a. A shell company of
RMA Ltd will remain, allowing receipt of donations/payments to the RMA under
that name.

b. Work was being
undertaken to explore whether a clause could be written into the Articles of
the new charity to allow “termination or exit” if it became necessary.

c. The RMA Brand must
be allowed to endure, and business must carry on as usual for members.

d. Recent Steering
Group meetings indicated that this could be a happy marriage.

15. The
Chairman then opened discussion to the Board, and the following points were
made:

a. BRR, a
member of the MSG, stated that he would seek reassurance that RMA financial assets
would remain under the membership’s control after merger.

b. PD added
that the RMA trustees on the MSG had made its members aware that every decision
made in the merger process must be in the Association’s best interests. The Chairman explained, in
amplification, added that several key decisions have yet to be made, and that
some items have been tabled as proposals for decision at the next MSG meeting.
If accepted, he would be able to bring news to the next RMA Board.

c. For the benefit of
new Board members, the Chairman explained that the governance structure of the
new charity would consist of a top level/main Trustee Board, on which probably
3 members of the “Membership Board” (which would be responsible for running all
membership matters, including events) would sit. He then summarised the advantages
of a single charity:

i. A single RM charity- removes confusion.

ii. Removes overlaps of effort as well as
any gaps.

iii.
Improved/streamlined back office functions.

iv.
Better focus of charitable efforts for beneficiaries.

d. The Chairman
explained that the Due Diligence procedure looks at the financial, operational,
legal and reputational aspects of the 3 charities involved and then brought GF
into the discussion, who reported the Board that he had suggested to the F&GP
Committee that it should take a risk-based approach to DD by not looking at
every aspect of the sister charities in minute detail, but should decide what
is important and focus on that. He added that the whole DD process was really a
means to the end of deciding about the Association’s future and that this was Trustees’
opportunity to ask him what they wanted him to find out.

e. The following
questions emerged:

i. GS stated that his
concern lay with what were the prospective or hidden liabilities of the other
party. He also referred to
discussions of 2 years ago in which safeguards to ensure the Main Board could
not dissolve the Membership Board were mooted. He then raised the question of RD’s capacity to reassign
current RMA members to the new charity. CW explained that it was intended to
follow the same process as assimilating the membership into RMA Ltd: members
would be advised in their renewal letter that payment of the RMA subscription
indicated their willingness to belong to new entity; they would be given the
opportunity to opt out.

ii. KR asked
whether RNRMC was scrutinising the RMA, to which the answer was ‘yes’, just as
the RMA is examining the RNRMC.

iii. BR
questioned the reliability and sustainability of income in the other parties,
relating their susceptibility to fluctuations to a strong reason for RMA to
maintain control of its reserves, which in turn would help direct its levels of
subscription payment. RB
interjected that an escape clause was being explored as part of the MSG work. GF added that the top-level board’s
ability to use or influence the membership’s funds is statutorily limited – by
law, its funds remain ‘restricted’ as opposed to ‘designated’, the former being
the best option for the RMA, ensuring that its members retain control of their
own activities. BR also asked whether any view was being taken in the DD
process about the small restricted funds maintained currently by the RMA for
third parties. CE put his view that the current practice whereby known third
parties might use the Association’s charity number for their fundraising and for
their money subsequently to be put into a small restricted fund was expected to
continue.

iv. BRR asked
GF whether there was anything in the RM Shop’s accounts that were causing
concern. GF replied that his main
concern lay with the Shop’s cash shortage, adding that now was the lowest point
of the year and that if the Shop were to falter because of this, it would be
now. BRR stated that he is worried that the Shop’s accounts will be available
or inspection under DD, and that he would wish to be sure that they contained
nothing that might cause the RMA difficulty. GF’s view was that the Shop has to
keep selling in order to survive, but its wage bill is quite high, and he was
concerned about the amount of stock it holds (although RE thought JL had told
the F&GP Cttee that he was holding quantities of stock to counter a lag in
supply). To general agreement KR suggested that the RM Shop should be added to
the RMA Risk register.

ACTION: CW

v. Finally, RE asked
whether the merger would be open to One Member One Vote (OMOV) to which CE
explained that he intended to arrange for voting to take place before AGM, and
was therefore planning the motion would be ready for the July Trustees’
meeting.

16. Page
5: RE pointed out that the election of a Vice Chairman had been omitted. CW to
rectify.

ACTION:
CW

17. On conclusion of the discussion, the
Minutes of the Extraordinary Trustees’ Meeting were accepted as a true record
of events.

Proposed: Mr R Crawley

Seconded:
Mr G Salvetti

Carried
unanimously

Item 4. Report from
the F&GP Committee (to include RM Shop).

18. The
Chairman invited comment page-by-page, which were as follows:

a. Page 4, para
13. BR drew attention to this minute, to which CE explained that the reason for
the sum reflected in this paragraph was due to receipt of an extremely generous
legacy. BRR added that the course of action proposed here was an opportunity to
rebuild reserves, having drawn down on them somewhat in 2016.

b. Page 4,
sub-para 12d. RB proposed to defer
the action suggested (repaying a portion of this year’s block grant to the RMA
by TRMC, due to a legacy to RMA making this feasible) until more would be known about timing
of receipt of the balance of the legacy, which was agreed.

19. It was put
to the vote that, in accordance with the recommendation at paragraph 13 of the
F&GP Committee Record of Proceedings, £250,000 should be moved to RMA Ltd’s investment funds.

Proposed:
Mr B R Reading

Seconded:
M R Bell

Carried
unanimously.

20. The Chairman invited CE to brief the Board about the
recent meeting of the RM Shop’s Board, on which he sits. CE advised that he had
raised the F&GP Cttee’s concerns about oversight of the Shop, which had
exercised the Shop’s Board, as its members did not view the shortcomings with
the same level of concern as the F&GP Cttee. CE stated that a loan was
offered to help the Shop’s finances, for which its Board was grateful but after
discussion, the offer was not taken up. CE then advised that he had just been
made aware that the RM Shop’s website developer had reneged on its agreement to
pay back the Shop for its failings in creating its new website, and related the
sorry history of this failure to the Board. He finished by stating that the RM
Shop Board feels that the shop is on firm footing for its stage of existence,
and is confident in its future. He added that there will be no donation to the
RMA this year.

21. In the long
and wide-ranging discussion that followed, the following points were pertinent:

a. There was general
concern for Joe Lane and the perceived lack of support for him from his Board. Joe’s lack of success in appointing a
‘second in command’ was also commented upon, with the concomitant concern that
if Joe could not work for any reason, the Shop would probably cease trading.

b.
The shop is overstocked.

c. The shop’s
Board had not taken a tough enough line with overseeing the management of the shop’s
finances.

d. What was the
shop’s debt to its creditors - particularly its suppliers?

e. The shop’s Board
had not met often enough since the parlous situation of its finances became
clear: there should be regular meetings and the shop should be providing the
board with

weekly update.

f. What, if
any, action had been taken to recover money from the website developer? CE read
a draft letter he had received before this meeting from the shop’s board to the
website developer. GS advised that it was neither strong nor detailed enough
and offered to help JL/CE develop a more appropriate document.

ACTION: GS

g.BRR proposed that, on behalf
of the RM Shop’s holding company, the shop’s Board met regularly and that
weekly cash projections and reports were forwarded to its Board and to the
F&GP Committee. CE agreed to draft a letter to this effect to RM Shop’s
Board, asking for a written response to the RMA Board’s concerns.

ACTION: CE

Item 5. 2016
Trustees’ Report.

22. No
comments were made on the submitted draft; therefore the Chairman accepted that
the Board was content with it as it stood, subject to the addition of detailed
and up-to-date figures.

Item 7. Risk
Management.

23. The
Chairman suggested going through the Risk Register asking for additions. BRR immediately reinforced the earlier
suggestion of placing the RM Shop in the Register, probably under the
‘reputational’ category. It was
agreed that CW would draft this entry before the next Board meeting.

ACTION: CW

24. BRR
questioned whether the risk noted at 2.1 was too high and whether its score could
be reduced when/if support for Renee is provided. After discussion, it was agreed that CE should remind CE
TRMC about the arrangement for support from TRMC staff; the need for regular
reminders about this arrangement was also identified.

ACTION: CE

25.
Discussion followed about the value of placing the costs associated with
Mindworks Marketing on the Register, on the basis, in GS’s view, of the increasing
expenditure without an end date. BRR pointed out that there was no risk – Trustees are aware
of the costs and the F&GP Cttee had agreed this year’s expenditure on website
development at its previous meeting, subject to agreement by this Board. KR felt that members who had had a
difficulty with the website might question the costs. CE explained the level of
work that MWM was doing on the Association’s behalf and that such a complex
website takes time to bed in. He
added that the error rate was running at only about 2%, but of course that had
a high profile. The Chairman
concluded the discussion by reiterating that the costs were actually proving to
be lower than the forecast which had been approved by Trustees before the
development programme began and stating his view that the website work was such
an important part of the RMA’s development that if it broke due to
under-investment, the staff would not cope. He directed that the risk that
should be recorded should be that of MWM closing, under 2.4, “RMA’s Business
Resilience Compromised’, (or add a new risk at 2.5).

ACTION: CW

26. PD suggested comparing the Association’s Risk Register
and that for the merger to ascertain overlaps.

ACTION:
CW

Item 9. Digital Marketing.

27. Defer until next meeting.

Item 10 Additional
Funding - Update.

28. Nothing significant to report.

Item 11. Serving Corps Update.

29. Corps RSM absent on duty.

Item 12. Central
Office Admin Burden

30. CE outlined
the case for either charging members, or asking them for a donation, should
they ring the office and ask the staff to perform a task for them that could be
done through the website. Animated
discussion made it clear that there was no support for either of these
suggestions.

Item 13. AOB

31. Update on Charitable Discounts from
Rackspace. CE informed the
Board that, following enquiries by John Harris-Burland, Rackspace does not
offer discounts to charities, although it does have its own Corporate Social
Responsibility policy, which favours selected charities.

32. Distribution of ETM Minutes. The Chairman directed that the ETM
Minutes should be distributed only to the Board.

33. Family Days Out – Ticket Eligibility. CE explained that at present
anyone in the Units that holds the tickets could use them. Feedback to him from
RSMs & WO1s is that this should not be the case – it would be preferable if
at least one member of the family group taking advantage of the offer belonged
to the RMA. He stated that he
would write to the relevant Unit Welfare Officers warning them that this condition
on the tickets’ use would be imposed with effect from 1 Jan 18. LS suggested that if RM Cadets had
access to such ticket, it would be a significant inducement to them to join the
RMA. CE agreed, and undertook to explore how this might work.

ACTION: CE

34. The application to open the RM
Club as a Branch. The
Chairman introduced this item by explaining the RM Club’s origins in Cdo 999 and
its difficult relationship with the RMA. He made the point that personalities
had changed in the RM Club and that it wishes to become a Branch of the RMA. However,
the document that the RMA had received from the RM Club raised several
important questions the most important one to his mind being that it suggested
the RM Club become an Association with an Association. He said that it could be
a strong asset as part of the RMA if all checks and balances to ensure that it
was run in accordance with the spirit of the RMA’s Bye-Laws were in place.

35.
Discussion around the Board, based on the document received from the RM
Club, revealed the following concerns:

a. The RM Club is
trying to differentiate itself from the RMA by labelling itself ‘the official
club of the Royal Marines’

b. What were the
implications of it being ‘self-governed’?

c. The name would add the confusion about entities with ‘Royal
Marines’ in their title that it is hoped merger will prevent.

d. How would
the RM Club provide a welfare service, and to whom? This would compete with the
magnificent work done by the RM Central Office welfare team.

e. Why would it need its own separate website?

f. RM Club’s
constitution and business plan should complement those of RMA.

g. Trying to be all things to all people.

h. What benefit would the “app” bring? Would it be compatible with
the RMA’s website? Why would
something allegedly so expensive be offered for nothing?

36. The Chairman drew the discussion to a close by asserting
that he recognises the paper was naïve and set Board Members on edge, but that
he would like to support the aspiration for the Club to become an RMA Branch,
although the details of how that is achieved caries significant concerns. He
suggested that Roger Dobson (RM Club’s Chief Executive) attend the next
Trustees’ meeting, and that CE communicate with him before that to explain the
Board’s areas of concern and seek common ground.

ACTION: CE

37. Merger Briefings to Regions. CE explained that “roadshows” to
brief members about the merger have been arranged in 3 Regions (Scotland,
Northern & SW), and he urged those who have not yet organised one to put in
bids for dates as quickly as possible (see CE email sent to Regional Trustees
on 23 Mar at 1618 hrs).

ACTION: RE, TG, PR, LS

38. Bids for RM Support to RMA Events. CW stated that he had sent an email on
14 Mar 17 to all Branches asking them to submit bids for uniformed support for
their events in 2017 to him by 20 April.
To date, not one response had been received. He urged Regional Trustees
to advise their Branches that short notice bids for RM support will not be met.
If Branches wished to gain the support of the serving Corps for any type of
event, the bidding process detailed in his email should be followed and bids
for support during the remainder of 2017 should be submitted as quickly as
possible.

ACTION: Regional Trustees

39. Regional News.

a. East Anglia Region. TG reported that
EAR Branches had been reminded about the need to submit the bids alluded to in
para 38 above at the Region’s recent AGM. He also suggested an amendment to the
final sentence of Bye-Laws article 7.8:“Branches
will be given details of those HQ Roll Members who live close to them on an
annual basis so that they can persuade them to join a branch.” CE interjected to say that this direction
had been superseded because of Data Protection rules: henceforward, if a Branch
seeks to recruit from HQ role members living in its area, it should send its
recruiting message to Central Office which will publicise it and send the
letter to the relevant individuals.

c. North. PD drew the Board’s attention to next year’s Zeebrugge 100
commemoration on Merseyside, stating that discussions are under way between the
Region and RMR Merseyside about the joint dinner to be held to mark the event.
He also voiced a concern that the RN might be planning parallel commemorative
events that would clash with RMR/RMA plans. CE explained that the Naval
Regional Commander is the point of contact for coordination and he would send
contact details to PD.

ACTION:
CE

d. South. LS remarked that there is a Regional desire to set
up an Op Frankton commemorative event at Eastney, but there seems to be no one
living local who is either willing or able to arrange it, and asked how to
proceed. CE suggested that the
lead for Frankton-related events should be SBSA, with RMA in support. He
explained the principle established by DCGRM of the 4 main RMA events in the
calendar gaining support from the Corps, as well as one ‘floating’ Regional
event each year, and asked Trustees to start considering the appropriate event
for 2019 (given that 2018 will be the Zeebrugge 100 commemorations in
Liverpool)

e. South East. PR announced that the RM Heritage Trail in Deal will go live
next year. He also drew attention to the fact that SE Region Committee
positions of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer are all vacant and there are no
volunteers to fill them. He added
that the RM band memorial Concert will take place in July and suggested that it
is too late to prevent the RM Shop’s exclusion for this year, but that CGRM
should be asked to discuss the matter with the concert’s organiser with a view
to the Shop attending 2018’s concert .

f. Scotland & NI. RC drew attention to
Barry Barnwell’s draft plan for an RMA ‘Forward Operating base’ in Scotland,
and added that RMA East Scotland had proposed a similar idea of a satellite
Branch helping to reduce the challenge of distances in Scotland, whereby, for
example, the members might meet at a given location with one member attending
the main Branch meeting and reporting back to the satellite branch.

40.
GS placed on record his thanks to the CE and the executive team in RMA
Central Office for all the hard work on behalf of the Association. He also
formally thanked Terry Galsworthy for all that he had done for Branch, Region
and Association.

41. The Chairman recorded his formal thanks and appreciation
to Terry Galsworthy for his commitment and dedication, not only as a Trustee
but in other RMA fields

41. There being
no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 16:13 pm.

An Update from the Chief Executive.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As part of the work to keep the
membership well informed about what is going on in the Association it is
requested by the RMA Trustees that you should read the following letter to your
Branch at the next opportunity. Trustees are very keen that, notwithstanding
the fact that this article will be posted on the website and will be publicised
on the RepNet as well as being entered into the Globe and Laurel magazine
(G&L), reading it to your Branch should serve to reinforce what your
Trustees assess to be most important messages for all members to understand.

The subject that has started to
dominate the work of Mike Ellis and Charlie Wilson in RMA Central Office this
year is that of the possible merger with The RM Charity (TRMC). Many of you might have heard talk about
this in the past two years, and you may have read the article on the subject in
the last edition of the G&L, but now the work to take the Corps’ two
principal charities towards a merger has started in earnest.

Put simply, the Trustees of the
Association and TRMC see the rationalisation of RM charities as a logical step,
viewing the RMA and TRMC as 2 sides of the same coin. The immediate focus on
this process has come about as a result of the challenge from the serving Corps’
hierarchy to understand ways in which the two primary Charities of the Corps could
work better to the benefit of those that they both support – the Corps Family. As this work commences, Trustees are
convinced that convergence will significantly streamline and improve the work
that both organisations currently do to support the Corps Family. Fundraising for a single Corps charity
instead of the present ‘competitive’ practices makes eminent sense, especially
when the bald fact is that the RMA depends on TRMC for much of the funding that
enables it to deliver services to its membership and the wider Corps family.
The motto on the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge, “United we Conquer” seems
particularly apt.

A merger is therefore being considered
in order to bring unity of effort and clearer focus on work both charities do
to maximise their effect for beneficiaries. The process is being led by a
steering group chaired by the Deputy Commandant General (DCGRM), with
representation from the RMA, TRMC and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity
(RNRMC) as TRMC’s parent charity.
Monthly meetings for the first half of the year are already programmed,
with the intention of reaching by July a provisional proposal to be put to the
membership at AGM in September 2017.
Reaching this point is subject to successful results of due diligence
checks and with the agreement of both the RMA and TRMC boards. The intention is to initiate the merger
on 1 January 2018, but that is not a hard target: it is more important for the
arrangement to satisfy all parties and take longer to implement than to be
constrained by the necessity of meeting a fixed deadline.

At present, all members of the Merger
Steering Group firmly support the concept of the merger. DCGRM sees that it can only be
beneficial for the whole Corps Family; in other words, it is not solely about
the RMA or TRMC. Ron Bell,
Chairman of RMA Trustees, is convinced that this process will bring nothing but
benefits to the RMA membership, but he is simultaneously determined that for
Branch members business must continue as normal after the merger is complete
and that the RMA brand must endure. An important part of the proposed merger is
to ensure that RMA members are informed about what unification means and you
are encouraged to contact your Regional Trustee or Central Office if you have
any questions. Responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) will be widely
promulgated to help to keep you informed.

Once this work is further advanced,
later in the year, it is planned to conduct a series of briefings around the
RMA Regions, you will be most welcome to attend in order to find out more about
the exciting developments for our Corps Charities. Regional Trustees will soon
be asked to coordinate the locations and timings of the meetings and the
details will be promulgated once they are known.

Reflecting on the achievements of last
year, it is very clear that there are some stalwarts of the Association who
have continued to proudly and most successfully raise the profile of the RM in
the public eye by raising very significant sums of money for both RMA &
TRMC. Amongst the many
superlative efforts of which Central Office was made aware last year, North
Devon Branch has capitalised on its association with the Commando Logistic
Regiment by creating a network of links in the Barnstaple area, establishing an
RMA discount scheme in local shops and persuading local serving and retired RMs
(and indeed those from other Services too) to help their spectacular
fundraising efforts. By contrast,
Romford Branch members, far removed from the Corps’ centre of gravity, have
consistently managed through their own efforts alone, (plus being blessed with
silver tongues, boyish good looks and charm - according to them), to persuade
the good folk of Essex regularly to donate many thousands of pounds, to our
Association. They are an exemplar of what can be achieved through consistent
dedication, dogged hard work and loyalty, no matter how little uniformed
support might be available. This
is not a one off: they continue to achieve these amazing results with
metronomic regularity and frequency. Trustees are most grateful to all of you
who give so much of yourselves and achieve so significantly for the benefit of
our Corps Family, whether as part of the RM Support Network, as Branch
Officials, organisers of fundraising events or as donors, your contributions
are not only valued, they are critical to our Corps Family. This year alone,
the support that we give to individuals in need has increased as against the
same period last year, thankfully, so has generosity to the RMA from across
diverse sources: it is particularly noticeable that donations through the
website are increasingly frequent, all of which is truly humbling. Thank you
all for what you do and what you give!

On the subject of generosity to the
RMA, many of you might have received a notice requesting you to opt in to Gift
Aid. This will boost the value of
your subscriptions and donations by 25% at no cost to you by enabling the
Association to claim back basic rate tax that you have already paid on those
amounts. Thus, for every £1 you
give the Association retrieves 25p from the taxman. The reason that we are asking you to do this is because we became a charity
limited by guarantee on 1 January 2017. So, while we’re still a charity, we’re
now known officially (to our mutual friends at HMRC, at least) as The Royal
Marines Association Limited. On a practical level, that means that we’ve
had to change our charity registration number. Unfortunately, HMRC rules mean
that we are now required to ask you again whether you would like to “opt in”
for Gift Aid on your subscriptions and donations to the new company “RMA
Limited”. You can do this very easily by logging into the preferences
section of your personal account on the RMA website or by contacting Renee
Davies at Central Office (02392 651519 option 2); she will send you a Gift Aid
form to complete and return.

As a consequence of the increasingly
close relationship between the RMA and the serving Corps, not least that CGRM
is now our President, this year for the first time a Corps Family Weekend will
take place at CTCRM on 16/17 September. This event will incorporate all the
components of the RMA Reunion with which many will be familiar, but augmented
by contributions from the staff of CTCRM and the wider serving Corps. Planning
is well under way with the comprehensive support of the serving Corps, and it
is intended that equipment exhibitions, sports competitions, arena displays and
much more will be woven into a weekend that will bring together many elements
of the wider Corps family all in one place. This will provide an opportunity not only to build links across
the family while enjoying the weekend’s activities, but also to raise the
profile of the RMA amongst serving RMs and their families, which can only be a
good thing. This has the potential to be a truly spectacular and memorable
weekend; I look forward to seeing as many as possible of you there.